The Chicago Tribune Reports that Illinois is set to institute long needed additional legistlation to protect employees from wage theft. You can view the article here. The article discusses that wage theft has become a widespread problem that needs to be remedied. It states:

Ismael and Efren Sanchez, both bricklayers, said their boss did not pay them for three months. When the father and son asked for their salaries, the employer claimed to have the same problem.

I don’t have the money.

Not believing it, the Sanchezes complained to the Illinois Department of Labor, saying they were owed nearly $13,000. Even though the state ruled in their favor, they have waited months for relief, and their home in south suburban Markham went into foreclosure in March.

Labor activists call such cases “wage theft.” Concerned that it threatens the most vulnerable of workers, they are trying to revamp the state’s oversight by adding teeth to its enforcement of labor laws, including felony violations for employers who are repeat offenders. …

The new legislation would put enforceability into the Labor Department’s rulings. The bill also would make an employer’s second offense a felony and make it easier for workers to file civil lawsuits for owed wages.

If you believe you might be part of a class of employees forced to work off the clock or have othewise been denied overtime pay, DiTommaso Lubin Austermuehle may be able to help your pursue your own overtime class action. For a free consultation on your rights as an employee, contact us today.

Our Naperville, Arlington Heights, Lombard, Highland Park, Hinsdale and Chicago fair labor and unpaid overtime lawyers and attorneys provide assistance in wage claims, fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer and employment rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago area employee rights or consumer protection lawyers who can assist in wage claim, lemon law, unfair debt collection, junk fax, prerecorded telephone solicitations, and other employment, unfair wage, consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.